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"The HybridDesk Station (HD Station) has an integrated XMBC media player, allowing you to directly enjoy multimedia files stored on a TS-x53 Pro/SS-x53 Pro using an HDMI-enabled display. With a QNAP remote control in hand, you can easily select what videos, photos, and music you would like to enjoy" - is seems really cool, a legitimate replacement for my (nuc)Reply

For the HTPC stuff, a dedicated box (NUC or a real HTPC) is always preferable - let the NAS do its job of serving content on storage over the network :)

UI is improving slowly.. Pre-QTS 4.x, the interface was barely usable, but with the modern 'mobile app' layout, it has become better. That said, responsiveness of the UI is still an issue compared to some of the market leaders out there.Reply

Can someone **please** enlighten me why *****all***** nas use legacy ext4 on mdadm and not zfs?? we had tons of boxes running this combo and switched allmost all to zfs (ubuntu) for increased stability (simply put: night-and-day) and thus maintainablity - with increased data protection as a secondary benefit...Reply

ext4 legacy? it seems like you are a bit confused about linux..Anyway, zfs is not mainline in linux kernel, This alone will suffice.And zfs is not for mainstream, first of all you need ECC memory to run it as it should.There are a whole lot of reason to let it out from the mainstream market.Reply

The latest generation of QNAP NAS models easily hardware transcoding, run virtual machines (can import OVF and VMWare VMs), manage IT infrastructures and have more functionality than any bare-bones server unless you spend days/week planning and installing them. They offer free backup apps to use with Amazon S3, Azure, DropBox, etc, along with the built-in Rsync and RTRR scheduled backups. They can run a IP phone system, McAfee Anti-virus, Squid (web cache/proxy), various web servers and CMS, home automation, signage, surveillance, mail servers.

It doesn't matter that you have more choice with a bare-bones server, you still need time and money to set them up. Most QNAP apps are free eg. TwonkyServer (not free when used separately)... AND you have various Android & Apple apps to control the NAS, provided free by QNAP (I even have them on my Kindle Fire HD).

It's also about saving time and money, without comprimising on security and reliability.

Thanks for posting this Ganesh - I'm really looking forward to seeing what the extra 2 CPU cores, memory, and 4 way LAGG can offer for performance. This could possibly be the Home Server solution I've been waiting for (in particular if they ever get Plex server using Quick Sync...)Reply

I got here looking for real-people reviews of the TS-451 and saw the x53 mentioned. I'm not an IT guy by trade, but also not a doofus around computers. I'm a home user who wants the things NASs are providing these days...storage, single location/multi-point access for files, music streaming, movie storage/serving, secure photo sharing for distant family, and secure file sharing with IP address restriction. I also want minimal troubleshooting and integrating of software for the thing to work right. Add easy-to-use apps to the list.

THAT's where the box-in-a-box comes in. I have a one-stop-shop for setup and periodic administration. No need to spend time getting different software to work together or resolving conflicts when a change is made. And if there is conflict, it's minor and easily handled. Support is also one-stop, rather than having one provider suggest going to the other provider instead of supporting their software.

One major consideration of DIY vs pre-built NAS is the power requirements. Big difference if it is left on, as most will be, for anytime-anywhere access.------pretty much a full-blown PC vs a kid's nightlight.

i want to store my files on NAS and i want to have possibly highest read/write speed of serving content on storage over the network.dont need any gimmicks(HDMI,USB,media player,remote control,download station,photo album,etc).why qnap,synology, thecus and Co. dont offer straight NAS with appropriate possibilties (100 MB/s read/write for small files; 4xGBit net; 4xHDD) for some reasonable price?i am sure this is posssible,because hardware prices for such device will be in order of 150 $ and linux (as OS) is anyway for free? Reply